Choose the Right!

Our little Deagan is now a CTR in Primary. He was given his first CTR ring yesterday, and he has hardly taken it off since. He constantly looks at it and reminds himself to choose the right. He will say, "Mom, if I ever feel like doing something bad I will just look at my ring and I will choose the right instead." His innocence and sweet spirit just melt my heart.

But I think he will need to wear that ring a little but longer before he really he gets better at choosing the right :) He is really a sweet little boy, but he feels as if he constantly has to pick on his brother. I feel that this is just a pattern of what is to come though. :)

Sickness brings you down

Our little Kayden was quite sick this past week. He woke up from a nap Tuesday and felt warm to me. He had a low fever at that point, and I hesitated to give him any medicine at that point because I have heard you shouldn't always immediately drug them up; treat the reason for the fever first.

Well the day dragged on and he got worse. I could not pin point a reason to his fever, so when his fever went over 100 I decided it was time to help him feel comfortable. From that point on for the next 2 days his fever stayed above 100 despite medicine. He wouldn't eat, but would drink a little.

Greg gave him a blessing and was promised a full recovery, but it was quite the week waiting for him to get better. He hardly slept, which meant I didn't sleep. He was the grumpiest little boy in the world; I know I can be over dramatic but honestly it was bad. I couldn't blame him for being grumpy when he was so sick, so I had to keep reminding myself that he wasn't trying to test every ounce of patience that I have in my body.

His fever finally went away but then he developed a rash. We took him to the urgent care yesterday and they assumed it was just viral because they could not pin point anything. A $50 co-pay was the hard part of that visit. I am grateful that there was nothing seriously wrong with him, but man I wish there was something they could treat so I would feel better about paying that kind of money. Oh well :)

Today is the first day where I feel we almost have our full Kayden back. The first picture on this post is right in the middle of the sickness and the 2nd was taken today. You cam definitely tell he is feeling better, and I am so grateful for that! Being healthy is truly a blessing.

Looking back on the year...

At the beginning of 2011 I had no idea where we would be at the end of this year, and now that we are here I can hardly believe how much has changed. We have had many ups and downs, and while it would be easy to focus on the downs, I want to remember the ups from this year:

-We survived one of Syracuse's snowiest winters on record! Syracuse winters are dark and a really hard time of year, but we came through it in one piece and now we have bragging rights! :)

-Greg was accepted for an internship with the DIA in Washington, DC! This internship eventually turned into a full time job that has been a huge blessing for our family. Greg works so hard at what he does, and it is so wonderful to see him enjoying what he does.

-We have had the chance to explore the sights that DC has to offer, and I find myself in awe of this area. There is so much history here! While there are many things that I do not prefer about this area, the age and history of this place fascinates me.

-We have made some great friends since moving here. When you live so far from family, friends almost become family and I am grateful for that.

-Greg was offered a chance to deploy to Afghanistan for 6 months this Spring/Summer. It will be a tough time for our family, but it will put us in a place financially where we don't have to stress so much, and that will be a wonderful thing.

-I became a certified personal trainer! I am still in the learning curve process, and I suspect I will be for a while, but it's good. Sometimes I doubt my abilities and knowledge but that's when I have to stop and ask God for help in this endeavor. I want to do something that will allow me to help out a bit financially for our family, so I can't give up even though it's been a challenge. With time I am sure things will get easier.

-We experienced several of Mother Nature's wonders through earthquakes, floods, tornado's, and heat waves. The positive spin I am taking on this is that we now can empathize with others who experience these things. We can be a support to others now!

-We have had the chance to have a couple visitors out here, and that is always so fun. That's a hint for more of you to come!! :)

When I look back on the year, I feel like this has been a real growing year for our family. There has been a lot of growing pains in that process, but we made it through the year. At times, it is so hard to understand why God has chosen to give us the challenges that he has, but those are the times when I have to stop and remember to stop questioning and start learning how to grow from them. I am slowly learning that.

I have so many things I want to change for the new year, as most people do, so I am looking forward to this year! I am looking forward to the chance to become a better daughter of God, a better wife, a better mom, a better daughter, sister, and friend.

Here is to a wonderful 2012!

A beautiful December day

It's December 14th and it is in the 50's. That is just crazy to me. It has yet to snow here and it is still bearable to be outside longer than 10 minutes. The summers here may be awful, but the falls are simply amazing.

The kids are pretty bundled in these pictures since it was before 9 when they were outside and it was a bit chilly, but they both were tearing their hats and gloves off though a few minutes into running and playing outside.

I tend to be a bit of a hermit in the winter, but I was reading a list of things to do with busy toddlers and one of the things was to get outside at least once a day regardless of the weather. This is something I am really going to work on this winter because fresh air really does a body good. :)

The Grinch

Deagan has a love/hate relationship with the Grinch. He has been slightly obsessed with him for a couple of years now. So much so that he started praying about the Grinch when he first started saying prayers out loud :).

But Deagan is also terrified of him. We have been watching "The 25 Days of Christmas" on ABC family this past month and when a preview came on for the "real" Grinch he freaked out and could not sleep that night. I guess he can handle the cartoon grinch a lot more than the real one!

The fascination continues despite his fear, and he pretends to be him at least once a day. It might just be his way to deal with his fear?

This is Deagan from today pretending to be the Grinch. He's just so funny sometimes. :)

Lights at the DC Temple

Christmas season is in full bloom, and we have been taking advantage of as many Holiday things as we can. Last night we drove through horrible rush our traffic to go see the Christmas lights turn on at the DC Temple. The temple may not be that far away in miles, but it is always quite the trip to get there when you hit traffic. It was worth the headache in my opinion though.

They really go all out on the temple grounds, so it is so beautiful. I love this time of year!

Its hard taking a picture of yourself with a phone camera; hence the blurriness. But I like both of our smiles in this one :)

The temple glows doesn't it??

They had a tree for every stake in the Temple district.  Here is our stake's tree!

"Cheese!"

Love this view!

Family Pictures 2011

We have a friend who is a fabulous photographer who offered to take our pictures this year.  It is so great to have friends who have these talents :)

It is crazy to look at past family pictures and to see how fast our family is changing.  

I love this little family God has blessed me with :)